How to turn mic and camera on/off in a video call on Windows 10
Windows 11 has a new feature that allows users to mute and unmute the mic by tapping the spacebar. This feature is only available for Microsoft Teams and will eventually be made available for other apps. It’s unclear when that will happen but so far, the feature is going to come to Windows 11 and not to Windows 10.
Turn mic and camera on/off in a video call
If you’d like to add a universal shortcut on Windows 10 that can turn the mic and the camera on or off, you’re going to need a third-party app. The app has to be able to control the mic and camera on an OS level or at an app level. PowerToys has recently added a feature that does just that.
PowerToys: turn mic and camera on/off in a video call
PowerToys has been getting regular updates with new features and a universal mute/unmute keyboard shortcut, and a universal on/off shortcut for the webcam was added sometime in October.
- Download and install PowerToys from Github.
- Open PowerToys’ settings.
- Go to the Video Conference tab.
- Turn the Enable video conference mute switch On.
After you enable the feature, you have to set it up for use in the video conferencing tool that you routinely use. You can set it up for use in multiple tools if you have to use more than one tool daily. For this, we’re using Zoom as an example.
- Open Zoom.
- Go to the app’s settings.
- Select Devices.
- Open the Mic dropdown and select PowerToys Video Conference Mute.
- Apply the change.
- Repeat for all conferencing tools.
How it works
The PowerToys Video Conferencing Tool will add a toolbar to the desktop when you use the mic or webcam. You can reposition where the toolbar appears from PowerToys’ settings. The toolbar will indicate the state of the mic and webcam i.e., if it’s muted or not.
- To toggle both mic and webcam, use the Win+N keyboard shortcut.
- To toggle the mic, use the Win+Shift+A keyboard shortcut.
- To toggle the webcam, use the Win+Shift+O keyboard shortcut.
You can change these shortcuts from PowerToys’ settings if they clash with other apps that you use on the desktop.
Conclusion
Video conferencing has become a major part of routine work for many people. Lots of video conferencing tools have been adding new features to keep up with these requirements but not all of them have a quick shortcut for muting or unmuting the mic. Most laptops and keyboards have a key for muting speakers but nothing for the mic, and definitely nothing for a camera. PowerToys is possibly the best solution that can work with most, if not all, popular video conferencing tools.
